Tag Archives: iPhone

We are glad to have you. Not only have you taken the grand leap of switching operating systems, but now you are unfortunately second guessing your decision due to the sheer frustration resulting from not receiving all of your text messages. Do not fret, because once we put a digital band-aid onto your SMS blunder, you will be back on track.

Explaining said “digital band-aid” as referenced above…

You may have noticed (of course you have, that’s why you are here) that you are not receiving any text messages from any of your friends/colleagues that have iPhones, because they are being sent as iMessages. iMessage is Apple’s proprietary messaging technology that sends messages over data, and when an iPhone sends an iMessage, it goes through Apple’s servers and then gets delivered to the intended device.

Problems arise when an iPhone tries to send an iMessage to a non-iOS phone. One fix is to contact every person who owns an iPhone and is texting you and tell them to turn off iMessage from Settings > Messages > iMessage, but do you really want to have to do this? I think not.

The best way to avoid this problem from the get go is to go into your phone’s settings and disable iMessage BEFORE you switch phones — otherwise other iPhones will continue delivering messages to your iMessage account and not to your actual phone. You can test this before making the switch by making sure texts are coming in GREEN and not BLUE. This is not always possible. For example, lets say you forgot to do so before you traded your phone in, or it just broke and there is no way for you to power on your device to do that.. (you are obviously here, because you’re probably in this boat)

You need to completely shut down iMessage and have your phone number disconnected from every piece of Apple Software that you own including iCloud. FYI iCloud can actually take up to 45 days to clear their servers of your phone number. Those dirty scoundrels!

This fix has worked for many:

Reset your Apple ID password, and make sure to NOT log back in on your devices.

Send a text to 48369 with the word STOP

Some other things you can try are if you have your old iOS device and it is turned on and connected to your WiFi in your home (if iMessage is turned on) texts will be delivered to this device and not make it to your new Android one. Step #1 in the fix above addresses this problem as well.

It may take up to 12 hours before you start receiving these intended texts from iPhone users on your new Android device.

If there are a select few people who you must absolutely receive texts from before having the time to do the previous steps, call them and tell them to delete any prior conversations that they have with you in their phone. Also, you can tell them to delete you as a contact and then re-add you. Also when sending a message the sender can hit the little i next to the message and then select send as SMS. These steps will most likely not be necessary if you do steps #1 and #2 above, but are a good remedy in the meantime.

Apple has since created a help page, which also has a lot of useful information that can help get you back to your texting frenzy.

Has anyone noticed any other major problems when making the switch from iPhone to Android or vice versa? Please feel free to comment below.

Summer is just around the corner, and do you know what that means…Significantly more water-damaged mobile phones.

This is going to be a cliffs notes version of dealing with water damage.

First off, if you get your phone wet, the first thing you need to do is to act as quickly as possible. If you are lucky, your phone may still be salvageable. Sometimes, this may mean to literally take the back off of your phone (may not be applicable to your device) and take the battery out if it is removable as well as any other removable parts (SIM/SD). Wipe off the battery and the device, and if your liquid indicators have not been touched by the water, make sure to avoid wiping any moisture onto them, because it is quite possible that if those indicators remain unscathed, “it didn’t happen.” Just sayin’ Next, try to blow out any moisture from your ports and speakers. By this I do not mean with a blow dryer, because chances are you may not have one on you. You literally need to feverishly reenact your 6th birthday party. Those candles didn’t know what hit them did they? And remember…

DO NOT TURN YOUR DEVICE ON

NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU WANT TO SEE IF IT IS WORKING.

It needs to be completely dry to prevent any electrical shorts from occurring. If people actually did the above steps correctly in addition to leaving their devices alone for a day or so (this includes charging as well), and not let their impatience get the best of them, they would not have to resort to activating their mom’s old LG Revere to use whist waiting for an insurance replacement. Disclaimer: I have nothing against the LG Revere = ) Tis’ only a comedic reference.

Then, there’s also putting it in rice. I have mixed feelings on this, as it does help to extract any moisture within the device a lot faster, please make sure to remove any grains before handing your precious phone over to a store rep and sticking to your story of “Oh I don’t know what happened” when they ask you if you had pilaf for dinner recently. They know. Evidence can be damning. If you must do it, this may be a better option.

Now, if you are planning on pleading the 5th and sticking to your story, you will need to know whether or not your liquid indicators will pass the test. For an android phone, you can usually find it under the battery. If your battery is not removable, all you have to do is perform a google search to find the location. There are far too many to list here in this post.

There are 2 types of indicators that are used

1. Plain white colored ones that turn red/pink

2. White ones with red patterns. (Many people see the pattern below and assume that is shows damage, but that is not true. (When these stickers are exposed to water the pattern will bleed).

FYI, Blackberry batteries also have liquid indicators on them, so if your phone indicators pass the test, one may benefit from losing your battery for the time being.

If you do a quick search for your specific device’s liquid indicator, I have heard through the grapevine that you can find replacement stickers online for very cheap.

Over the years, the iPhone’s liquid indicators have migrated. The 3G, 3GS, 4, and 4S have indicators placed in both the headphone jack and on the bottom of the dock-connector housing/charging port. The iPhone 5 (and all current models) feature a single water damage indicator on the inside of the nano SIM card slot, which is located on the right side of the phone. It definitely helps to use a flashlight to see them clearly.

Remember, if any of these indicators show liquid damage, the device will NOT be covered by the manufacturer’s warranty.

Well, I hope that if you are reading this and have not experienced dropping your phone in the toilet quite just yet, should it occur, you now posses the knowledge to act hastily and save it from an untimely watery demise. On the contrary, if you have found yourself on the not-so-lucky flip side, there was still some pretty valuable information expressed. Do you not agree? ::wink wink::

When creating an Apple ID, if you make the unfortunate mistake of entering your birth year wrong or actually being under the age of 13 (and not fibbing about it), then be prepared to see this error message:

“You Cannot Create An Apple ID Because You Do Not Meet The Minimum Age Requirement.”

You try again and again, and then go as far as changing your birth year to 1920, and apparently (or so it seems) the ripe old age of 93 is too young to download and get one’s candy crush saga fix on. What gives?!

How to fix or get around this issue in the following scenarios:

If you turned 13 today

Make yourself 1 day older, and tomorrow you can change it back to your real day. Apple doesn’t seem to like 13th birthdays…probably the result of some repressed adolescent trauma of sorts.

If you are under 13 (and planning on lying about it thus landing yourself on Santa’s naughty list this year) or if you actually are over 13 and just messed up on entering your birth year due to your monstrous thumbs hitting the wrong key

You can wait 24 hours and try again.

Go to settings, then safari, then clear history, cookies, and cache. Then re-register for your new itunes/apple user account.

Try creating the account from a different device (for example a friend’s phone or another computer). Remember you don’t have to create it in the actual app store application under “create new account.” You can also open a browser tab and search for “apple id” and then choose to create a new account this way as well. It doesn’t have to be from an iDevice.

So, now that I have just showed children under the age of 13 how to trick the system, I’m gonna try and lay my head down on my pillow tonight and sleep soundly. Tomorrow I better help an old lady or two cross the street to balance the scale. Sweet Dreams.

For some reason Comcast email accounts do not seem to like the company of smartphones very much, at least when they are added as an account through the native email application on the phone. Fret not, persistence will prevail, and you will get that little sucker on there if it’s the last thing you do eh. Did I really just type eh? Apparently, I’ve gone Canadian (not really) and also suffer from ADD. Okie dokie back to the topic at hand…the following server settings are the ones that are currently working. When adding the account, choose Other as the type of account to be added.

INCOMING SERVER SETTINGS

Server = mail.comcast.net

If the email address is example@comcast.net, the username will be example (the park before the @sign) and the password is your Comcast email password.

Security = SSL

Port = 995

OUTGOING SERVER SETTINGS

Server = smtp.comcast.net

Username is the same as above.

Security = SSL

Port = 587

If for any reason these settings are not working for you, you can always download the Xfinity App and access your email in this fashion.

Also, If anyone notices that these server settings become invalid or are not working for you for this account type or any of the other email accounts for that matter, feel free to email me, and I will find the updated settings and/or do my best to help.

Remember when you would leave your cellphone home (or at least keep it powered off) when you journeyed off to some remote tropical island off the coast of…ahhhh does it even matter? As long as there’s a steel drum band and an endless supply of exotic frozen drinks with tiny, colorful, paper umbrellas, I’m so there, and I’m gonna go out on a limb here and assume that you would be too. However, nowadays, I would bet that you would be a tad more reluctant to deal with the separation anxiety that comes along with not staying connected while you are away. After all, our entire lives are on our mobile devices. They are our cameras, calendars, personal assistants, calculators, diaries…you get the idea. Today, choosing the phone that will pretty much be your everything for the next 2 years is almost as important as buying a new car, and people do not want to be separated from it, not even for a week.

It is for this reason, that I am writing this post. You don’t have to leave it behind…but at what cost. The last thing you want to come home to is a phone bill that is to the moon an beyond, and this can be a possibility. There are, however, ways that you can have your cake and eat it too, all for very cheap or practically nothing. I know this, because I have done it, and you can do it too. This past October, I spent a week in Aruba, made tons of phone calls, sent and received a bunch of text messages and actively engaged in more forms of social media than you can count on one hand…after all, it’s always fun to post photos from your trip…thus reminding everyone back home that you are in paradise yet they, themselves, must wake up in 5 hours for work, and the only thing that they have to even remotely look forward to is a mug of burned coffee that has been sitting out too long. Although, I would never…ever do something like that, because I’m a sweetie pie = )

Well, if you are anything like me, you must stay connected at all costs. Well not literally…because by “at all costs,” i mean at the lowest cost possible. Read on..

1. Before you even step foot on the plane or arrive at your destination, the first thing you need to do is go into your phone’s settings and make sure Data Roaming is NOT enabled. Then you want to make sure that your data (also knows as mobile network) is OFF. This will disable your devices data connection, which is super important with smartphones. In fact, it is the Holy Grail of roaming, reason being, if your data happens to be turned on you may have a boatload of apps running in the background, whose sole purpose in life happens to be making you want to drive off a bridge upon the receipt of your next wireless bill. Data roaming charges are what will cost you the big $$$. So disable it. Your phone will still be able to make/receive calls/texts.

I like to take it one step further and…

2. Also put my phone into Airplane Mode. This will disable ALL connections. You will not be able to use the phones call or texting feature in addition to any sort of data. Essentially at this point, you have an MP3 player/camera/PDA. “This is no fun!” you say. Agreed. Well here is where it gets magical…

3. WiFi is you new best friend. While leaving your phone programmed with the settings above, turn your wifi ON and connect to a network. Most hotels and coffee shops offer free wifi, and in the event that it is not free, the rates will most likely be a lot cheaper than your provider’s roaming rates. Once you are connected to wifi, you can use as much data as your want without being charged (Just make sure you see the little wifi symbol, which looks something like this and is located towards the top notification bar on your device.

So while you are on that wifi connection, check your email to your heart’s content, and while you’re at it browse as many web pages as it takes until your eyes glaze over. It won’t matter,because it isn’t going to cost you anything. Hmmm, but what about calls and texts, you may wonder. It gets better. There are apps that you can download that will allow you call and text over wifi = No Roaming Rates. YIPPEE!!!

The app that I use religiously is called Viber. Learn it, Live it, Love it. It is oh so Ahhhhhhhhhmazing. The call quality is actually quite good, although this is dependent on how strong your wifi connection is. Once you download the app, it will take you through the set up process. After you log in with your mobile number, you will have the option to make free phone calls and messages Here’s the catch. The person that you are communicating with must have this app as well. As long as this is all set up before you leave on your trip, it should be smooth sailing.

Of course, if you ever find yourself in a situation where you absolutely MUST contact someone and have no way of connecting to wifi, you can always momentarily turn airplane mode off and pay the roaming rates associated with your provider’s per minute/per message amount. This also holds true for data roaming, and by this I mean turning your data/mobile network on briefly if you need to use it. After you are done, you can turn the data off again and toggle your device back into airplane mode. If you foresee yourself needing to use data and there existing the possibility of not being able to connect to WiFi, it would be in your favor to contact your service provider before you leave to inquire about global data packages. These may be pricey, but it is much better to have it than to deal with pay-as-you-go rates.

There you have it. The best of both worlds…A complete and utterly serene tropical paradise alongside your means to stay connected to your every day life. Now, the only question is, what are you going to do with all the $$$ that you DIDN’T spend on roaming rates?

If I had a penny every time I heard someone say this, I would have about a couple hundred pennies = ) Not exactly a small fortune, yet it amazes me how many people have no idea how to fix this issue. When purchasing an iPhone, customers should really be told about the infamous “Soft Reset” that an iPhone will require from time to time. It will surely save a lot of people a lot of unnecessary aggravation and worry as well as a trip to their local wireless store.

Symptom: iPhone will not power on. It is not responding when pressing the power key. Assuming the device, in fact, is not actually damaged in any way (physical/liquid) and the battery has somewhat of a charge to it, the following steps will work.

1. Press the HOME key and keep holding…

2. While still holding, press the POWER button.

3. Now ContinueHolding both of these together for about 15 seconds. I kinda chose that number out of thin air. In fact, it’s a complete guess…Just keep holding both until you see the Apple Logo. Then, you can let both go. This should not take longer than 30 seconds actually. So, if it doesn’t happen, then:

A. Your phone needs to be placed on a charger for about 15 minutes before trying this again.

or

B. There is something else going on. (Possible broken phone)

So, if you find yourself in this position, Do not fret, as this need for a “soft reset” is normal. As long as your phone responds after completing the above steps, your phone is NOT defective in any way. It is not a lemon. I repeat, it is not a lemon.